


Rising Sun

by LacePendragon



Category: RWBY
Genre: Canon Compliant, During V5, F/F, Friendship, M/M, Minor Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-31
Updated: 2018-10-31
Packaged: 2019-08-13 21:19:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16479941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LacePendragon/pseuds/LacePendragon
Summary: After all is said and done, Ilia can’t sleep. Sun’s not surprised, and joins her to watch the sunrise.





	Rising Sun

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written December 16th, 2017. Reposted October 31st, 2018. Happy Halloween.

Ilia was awake. That, in itself, wasn’t a surprise. Sun had figured she’d still be awake after everything, even after the organization, discussion, and statements given to the police. What did surprise him, however, was where he found her.

From the fires within the house came justice, and from that justice, came homelessness. Most of the inside of the house had burned, but enough of its exterior remained to keep the balconies intact and stable. That was where Sun found Ilia, leaned against the railing of the balcony where he and Blake had first seen her hiding in the trees.

“Hey,” said Sun, keeping his voice low. Ilia flinched anyway, turning to Sun and pressing herself into the balcony railing, her knuckles white against the wood. “Sorry. Didn’t meant to startle you.”

Ilia nodded, slow and uncertain. She swallowed hard, looking anywhere but at him. “Should I leave?” she asked.

Sun shook his head and approached the railing, keeping Ilia out of arm’s reach. For her sake, not for his. He didn’t mind being close to her – he’d _pinched_ her, after all – but he figured she was still pretty shaky about everything.

“Nah, I wanted to talk to you, actually,” he said. Ilia furrowed her brow at him, slowly turning back toward the railing and leaning against it with her arms folded. Her shoulders and back stayed tense, her body thrumming with her fear as her gaze darted between Sun and the darkened trees.

“Oh?” asked Ilia, her voice cracking halfway through the word. She grimaced and looked away from him.

“I know you’re still scared,” said Sun, his voice soft. “But you don’t have to be.” Hesitantly, he slid his hand across the railing, not close enough to touch her, but close enough that she could see it. “Blake’s forgiven you, and so have her parents.” He cracked a crooked smile. “So have I. No one’s holding this against you anymore. We want you to stand beside us.”

Ilia slumped, the large freckles of her skin flickering yellow, then pale green, then soft purple, before shifting back to their usual brown. Sun wasn’t sure what all those colours meant. Yellow and pale green were probably fear and nausea, if he had to guess, but he couldn’t trace the purple.

“After all I’ve done, you still forgive me? After what I did? What I said? What….” A hesitation. “What I tried to do?” she asked. She didn’t look at him as she spoke, instead staring down into the undergrowth that hid the ground beneath the balcony from view.

“Of course,” said Sun. When Ilia didn’t respond, he continued. “Hey, Blake was White Fang too. I never held that against her.” He frowned when Ilia slumped further, her skin picking up a blue tint and her freckles turning a deep, dark blue. “Why are you so hard on yourself?”

Ilia growled, freckles and eyes going red as she rounded on Sun. “Because I hurt people!” she snapped, throwing one arm out. “I turned on my own kind because I was _scared,_ and I hurt people. I _stabbed_ you. How can you just…” She trailed off, her hands pressing into her face to hide the tears that gathered in her eyes. “How can you just _forgive_ all that?” Her voice cracked again, skin flushing dark blue and then into shades of grey.

Sun bit down on his own worries and stepped forward, resting a hand on Ilia’s shoulder. She flinched, but she didn’t pull back.

“You were brainwashed,” said Sun, firmly. “You were vulnerable and young, and they took advantage of you. They used you.”

“They didn’t have mind control,” mumbled Ilia, staring at the ground as her hands fell limply to her sides. Tears dripped off her face and splattered onto the wooden floor of the balcony. “I could have walked away.”

Sun pressed his lips together and brought his other hand up to gently cup the side of her face, his thumb brushing away excess tears. Ilia stilled for a moment, then leaned into the touch, hesitant, as if she were terrified to lose it at any moment.

“You did,” said Sun. “But before that? I understand, Ilia.” He shook his head. “Man, you and Blake have survived some of the worst kinds of control. The kind that pretends to be _love_. And you didn’t know any better back then, so it wasn’t your fault.”

“But—” started Ilia.

“But nothing,” said Sun, firmly, sliding his other hand up her shoulder to cup the other side of her face. Using both hands, he tilted her head up to look at him, his tail swinging around to gently wrap around her upper leg. She leaned into it all, her freckles taking on a pink hue under the grey. “You know better now, all right? That’s what’s important.”

Ilia sniffled and wiped away her tears, nodding as her lower lip trembled. “Okay,” she whispered. Sun couldn’t tell if she was just saying that or if she was really starting to believe him. He figured he’d go with the latter. “How are you so good at this?”

Sun shrugged, pulling his hands from Ilia to stretch out a kink in his back and rub the back of his neck. “I got a lot of practice with Blake,” he admitted. At Ilia’s curious look, he continued with, “Hey, you two have a lot in common. Part of why I like you.” He punched her shoulder, as light as he could, and unwound his tail from her.

There was a flicker of something like disappointment in her eyes. Sun vowed to hang off her like the monkey he was all the way to Mistral.

“Not like you like her, though,” said Ilia. Oh, maybe he’d misinterpreted then. Not disappointed over the loss of touch, but over something else entirely.

She turned back toward the balcony railing, sounding bitter. On the horizon, Sun could see the first glimmers of daylight edging their way above the treeline, staining the black of night with the deep blues and purples of dawn.

Sun sighed and leaned against the railing. She _could_ just mean that Blake was one of his best friends, but he doubted it. That tone – bitter and frustrated – belonged to only one feeling: jealousy. “You too, huh?” he asked, trying, and failing, not to sound bitter as well. “Ilia, I don’t feel that way about Blake.”

Ilia’s eyebrows rose, her expression unreadable. “Really?” she asked, sounding doubtful.

“No,” said Sun. He shrugged and turned to put his back to the railing, propping his elbows up on it. His tail wrapped loosely around the railing before flicking back and forth near his hips. “I mean, she’s amazing, and I completely get why you fell for her—” Ilia turned pink, her freckles and eyes flashing pinkish red, before she settled again. “—But I don’t feel that way about her.” He cocked an eyebrow at Ilia. “Not the least of which is because I don’t swing that way.”

Yellow, then orange, then sickly green. Wide eyes, raised eyebrows, dropped jaw. Her eyes flashed white, then yellow, then back to usual. “Really?” Her voice cracked, fear and hope intermingling. Then, softer, more awed, “Really?” Her skin faded to normal.

He nodded, a soft smile on his face. His tail swung out and caught her around the wrist, gently nudging her closer.

“Really,” he replied in a soft voice. He reached out and laid a hand on her shoulder when she was close enough. “You’re not alone, Ilia. You might think you are, but you’re not.” He hesitated, wondering how Ilia would take his next statement. “I actually have a boyfriend, back in Mistral. His name is Neptune.” Sun’s lips twitched into an involuntary smile, remembering his parting with Neptune. He hoped the guy wouldn’t hate him too much for how long he was gone. “I’m hoping to meet up with him when we head to save Haven.”

“Neptune,” echoed Ilia, staring unseeingly at some spot on the ground. Tears welled in her eyes again. The longing in her voice made Sun want to pull her into a hug and never let go. “Why isn’t he here?”

Sun started, not expecting that. “Well, for one, he’s scared of water. Couldn’t get him on the boat.” He hesitated, rubbing the back of his neck. “And, for two, he’s uh, he’s human.”

Ilia’s eyes paled to soft grey. “Human?” she echoed, cocking her head at him. “After everything—” Her voice cracked, and she cut herself off, taking a deep breath. Propaganda took a long time to kill when it was that deep inside you. Sun had watched Blake fight it since the day he’d met her. “What’s he like?”

Sun grinned, eyes going faraway as he thought of Neptune’s smile, and antics, and their long-standing friendship and partnership and how it had blossomed into so much more. “He’s amazing. Super proactive about being a good ally in protests.” Something Ilia would appreciate, he hoped. “He’s got this smile and this laugh that lights up the whole room and he tries so hard to be cool even though he’s a complete dork.” Sun laughed, ducking his head to hide the blush that spread across his features. “He’s amazing.” His voice was soft, barely there.

“You love him,” said Ilia. Not a question, but an awed statement, a curiosity, nonetheless.

“Yeah,” said Sun, lifting his head to turn his soft eyes and softer smile at Ilia. “I really do.”

Ilia sighed, hugging herself and looking away from Sun, her skin washed out even in the growing light around them. “I wish I had that.”

“You will,” said Sun, resting his hand on her again.

“But Blake—” started Ilia.

“Has no idea how she feels about anything, right now,” said Sun, cutting her off with a firm but gentle tone. “Once we get Mistral and Haven sorted, then maybe she can focus more on herself, but, right now, Blake is just trying to save the world the only way she knows how.” It was part of why he loved her like a sister. Part of why he’d followed her. “After that, who knows?” He shrugged.

Ilia looked doubtful, frowning.

“Hey,” said Sun, turning to face Ilia properly and lifting her chin with a gentle hand. “Listen. When this is all over? Maybe she’ll fall in love with you. Maybe she’ll fall in love with someone else. Maybe she won’t fall in love at all.” He brushed a stray strand of hair from Ilia’s face. “But I know, regardless, that she cares about you and wants you by her side, all right?”

Ilia nodded, not saying a word.

“We’re partners now,” said Sun, grinning at her crookedly. “That means we stand together. And if you ever need someone to talk to, about sexuality or being a faunus or even just wanting to know more about the world outside of all this hate you learned, I’ll be here.” He leaned forward, pressing his forehead to hers, and slid both hands to the sides of her face, cupping her with soft hands. “Okay?”

Ilia rested her hands on his wrists and smiled, her eyes watering and her lips pressed together. “Okay,” her voice cracked as she spoke. “Okay,” she said again.

“You’re stronger than you think, Ilia. If last night taught me anything about you, it’s that,” said Sun. Ilia let out a choked sob and buried her face into the crook of his neck.

Sun pulled her into a proper hug and pressed his face into her hair, stroking her back as she began to softly cry. As she did, and as Sun whispered comforts into her ear, the sun continued to rise and bathed them in its warm light.

Sun let her cry, not moving from the balcony until she was ready. There were two weeks to get to Mistral and to train. But, before that, Ilia needed time to mourn her past and to regroup. And, if he could help with that, well, he was more than happy to.

 


End file.
